‘Girls’ Season 4 Adds ‘Parenthood’ Star Jason Ritter

While we were excited for the last 'Girls' season 4 casting announcement of 'Community' vet Gillian Jacobs, it was somewhat tempered by the news that her stay might prove to be less permanent than we hoped. Though, the fourth year for HBO's Lena Dunham dramedy added another departing NBC vet for balance. 'Parenthood' vet Jason Ritter will put in a season 4 appearance for 'Girls,' as well, but as whom?

As reported by TVLine, Ritter will portray a character named "Scott" in the sixth episode of season 4 (no longer the midpoint of the season, given the reduced episode order). For now HBO only acknowledged that Ritter will appear, though nothing else about the role has been established, including its longevity.

Elsewhere, we know of ‘Girls’ season 4 that production will likely return to the 10-episode format over season 3′s elevation to 12, while series star Andrew Rannells will enter season 4 promoted to series regular, and Adam Driver will remain a regular despite his ‘Star Wars‘ casting. We’ll also see Hannah undertaking the Iowa writers’ graduate school program that became a focus of the season 3 finale, despite the fact that the actual Iowa University denied Dunham the opportunity to film there. Additionally, ‘Homeland‘ star Marin Ireland, young filmmaker Desiree Akhavan and actor Peter Mark Kendall have been given recurring roles as fellow students in the writing program.

HBO will likely reserve 'Girls' season 4 for January 2015, but what do you think? What other NBC veterans might Lena Dunham scoop up for next year's run?